Cricket Fans asked to have their say

Five nominees named for Fans’ Choice Award for Outstanding Individual Performance

The second Fan’s Choice Award gives cricket supporters the unique opportunity to vote for the player who has produced the most outstanding performance in the past year.

The winner announced at The National Bank Awards Dinner next month with one lucky fan getting the chance hand over the award at the prestigious event.

New Zealand Cricket introduced the Fans’ Choice Award for Outstanding Individual Performance as a result of a recommendation by the panel of cricket experts asked annually to select the nominees and winners.

Often outstanding one-off individual performances can go without formal recognition within a traditional awards structure.

The first Fans’ Choice Award was won by Brendon McCullum for his breathtaking 116 not out against Australia was selected as the most outstanding performance, beating other notable efforts by Shane Bond, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor and Peter McGlashan.

The award nominees are:

Neil Wagner – The Otago left armer became the first bowler in the history of First-Class cricket to take five wickets in a six ball over. He reduced Wellington, from 136 for four to 136 for nine in the final over before lunch and finished with career-best figures of six for 36. The final four wickets were all bowled.

Chris Martin – The BLACKCAP strike bowler took five for 63 in the first Test against India at Ahmedabad, helping reduce the home side to 15 for 5 in the sixth over. In the devastating opening spell he dismissed Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina before picking the wicket of MS Dhoni later in the day.

Tim Southee – Southee took 5-18, including a hat-trick, in a Twenty20 match at Eden Park to help the BLACKCAPS beat Pakistan by five wickets. His five wickets came in the space of eight balls and it was the first five wicket haul by a New Zealander in a Twenty20 International.

Ross Taylor – Taylor launched a brutal assault on Pakistan at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, hitting an unbeaten 131 to set up a 110 run win. His score came off 124 balls with 62 runs coming off the last 16 balls he faced.

Matt Henry – The 19 year old Canterbury bowler took five for 23 in nine overs on debut to help the Canterbury Wizards to an outright win over Wellington in the Plunket Shield. Henry came into the match as a replacement after Andrew Ellis and Todd Astle attended a funeral following the Christchurch earthquake in February.

“Last year’s Fans’ Choice was hugely popular with thousands of fans submitting votes for the spectacular one-off performances,” said New Zealand Cricket Chief Executive Justin Vaughan.

“It is a great chance for the public to reflect on the outstanding feats and help celebrate the remarkable performances by having input into the overall winner.”

The 2010/11 panel was headed by former New Zealand Cricket President and selector, Don Neely along with former BLACKCAP and current SKY Television commentator, Ian Smith; and veteran Radio Sport commentator, Bryan Waddle.

Cricket fans are encouraged to vote on their favourite individual performance from the 2010/11 season at www.blackcaps.co.nz/fanschoice and go into the draw to win a trip to The National Bank Awards Dinner to present the trophy live on SKY TV.